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Chills in China’s property market are seeping into the fortunes of China’s richest tycoons.

This year 17 real estate billionaires made the top 100 of the Forbes China Rich List. Their fortunes came to $63 billion, a 12% drop from the $71 billion that 21 property tycoons in the top 100 commanded last year. To put that in context, the total wealth of China’s richest 100 this year was up 19%.

Journalist turned real estate entrepreneur Wu Yajun cofounded real estate developer Longfor. Her fortune is down $900 million from a year ago.

In the nine months ending September, sales of residential housing in China went down 10.8%, and sales of office buildings plummeted 19.7%, according to the Ministry of Land and Resources. In September, housing prices dropped in 63 of 100 major cities in China compared to a month ago.

The weakening has been mainly felt in the eastern regions, where 9 out of 12 major cities including Beijing and Shanghai saw reduced transaction volume in the latest quarter. Financing for real estate developers has become more difficult, recording a growth rate of merely 2.3% for the first nine months of 2014, down from 28.7% for the same period last year.

China’s Central Bank recently issued new policies to loosen mortgage rules and increase funding for the construction of low-cost housing. But analysts remain skeptical about the policies’ effectiveness in boosting demand.

Against the chilling backdrop, real estate tycoons contributed to just 16.8% of the total wealth of China’s richest 100 this year, down from 24% a year ago. Most symbolic of the ebb is Wang Jianlin’s slip to fourth place from the top spot last year. The lower value of commercial properties owned by his Dalian Wanda Group chopped nearly $1 billion from his fortune. Wang is aggressively seeking growth in other areas, including investment in overseas real estate and in offline to online retail.

China’s richest woman last year also suffered a heavy blow. Yang Huiyan, the 33-year-old owner of , lost $2.3 billion in her fortune from a year ago and slipped 12 notches to No.19. Shares of the property developer have fallen close to 40%. By the third quarter, the company has met 63% of its sales target for 2014, lagging far behind last year’s 104%. Investors became concerned about the company’s liquidity when new shares were issued in August to refinance debt.

But Country Garden was still beating competitors such as Longfor, chaired by Wu Yajun who dropped to No.36 from No.20 last year, or Shimao, chaired by Hui Wing Mau who’s down four places to No.16 this year.

Chan Laiwa, who owns the Regent Beijing, Jinbao Tower and the Beijing Hong Kong Jockey Club, replaced Yang as China’s richest woman with $6.1 billion fortune, only a slight bump up from last year’s $6 billion.